Common myths about Vessel IT

From our experience with providing vessel IT services to various companies, we have realised that there seems to be a general lack of awareness about what it is and how it can greatly benefit the business.

Some of the common misconceptions:

1. The halo effect:

   There has been a general tendency to believe that the setup on board the vessels is the best possible in the given budget and pricing. During the PMS system audits, PiscesER1 have identified several opportunities of standardisation, reduced reduncancies, robust setups, less downtime and cost saving.

2. Transformation of systems is disruptive: Over time the upgrades, critical system renewals are delayed with the apprehension that doing it may cause detrimental disruption of services which are running. At PiscesER1 we are team of qualified and experienced Marine Engineers and IT professionals. We can do the transformation with ‘Minimal to No’ disruption, using the Management of Change.
3. Cybersecurity (hyperlink) The business is always concerned about the question of what is in it for me, where cybersecurity is concerned. There are a lot of security policies setup in shore organisations. PiscesER1 have the experience that the same set of policies on board or either not implemented or are not appropriate for the business. We have experience of implementing Cybersecurity.
4. Manage Vessel IT Traditionally there is a belief that Vessel IT can be managed the same way like machinery. Supply of spares and replacements can be handled by ship staff, just like they would handle the replacement of piston rings on main engine. PiscesER1 realised the basic shortcoming in this is that our valuable ship staff are extensively trained and competent to handle the machinery and operations equipment. However there is little or no training and competence to handle the IT management.
5. The cost factors

   It is generally believed that dedicating bandwidth and resources for Vessel IT in ship operation will be an added detrimental impact on the OPEX, and should be avoided. PiscesER1 have case studies that with an efficient dedicated IT team like ours, it actually turns profitable after the 1st year of implementation and on an ongoing basis the ROI is high.